A/N I know the end of the last chapter was random, but I love Maria and I love the idea of her being the one to 'slap' some sense into Jeff =D
Jeff hovered outside of Sevina's hotel room, smoothing down his wrinkled t-shirt. Should he have dressed better for this? He looked down at his faded jeans, with holes at the knees, his worn out sneakers and his messed up Hardy Boys t-shirt. Then he shook himself. Sevina had never cared how he dressed. Why would she care now? He'd be grateful at this point, if he managed to convince her not to slam the door in his face. He took a deep breath and lifted his hand, hesitating before he knocked three times.
Sevina had been laid on her bed. She was dressed in baggy sweat pants and a Hardy Boys t-shirt, that exactly matched Jeff's, though she had been totally unaware of this. She had the remote control for the t.v and was flicking aimlessly through the channels, not paying attention to what was on. She jumped when she heard the knocks on the door, but figured it had to be Maria. If she'd paid more attention, she'd had realised that they were way too hard and high up to have been the other woman. She dropped the control and sat up, shoving her hair from her face. "Come in, it's open!"
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed her hands down her face. She heard the door open and lifted her head. She froze, shock running through her body. Why?! Why did he have to come here?! For the moment, the surprise and anger were keeping the pain at bay. For the moment. She frowned at him when she regained control of her face and folded her arms. "What are you doing here?"
Jeff shuffled into the room a little nervously. The look on her face was definitely not friendly and he really didn't want to get a third slap. Though, he knew from experience that Sevina didn't slap, as a general rule, she gave you a full-on knuckle sandwich. " I uh…want to apologise for not catching you at the arena before you left." Good start Hardy. Jeff mentally slapped the annoying voice in his head, then returned his attention to Sevina, who was now avoiding his gaze. She looked…angry? It was only now that Jeff was getting an inkling of just how far he had pushed her ability to cope. "Fine. We done?" The words echoed through Jeff's head, taking him straight back to the last time she'd said that to him. The night after he'd kissed her. Possibly the stupidest move he'd ever made and yet, one he didn't regret. Not even for a moment. He had dealt with it really badly then, he was trying not to make the same mistake again.
His voice was gentle as he took a few steps towards her, but left enough distance for her to still feel secure in her personal space. "No. We're not done. I need to talk to you." She surprised him by shooting to her feet. She brushed past him. He thought she was going to walk out, but instead, she slammed the door shut. He frowned as he watched her. The shutting door had revealed a pile of shoes, which she was now rooting around in. "Sevina?" She ignored him. He approached her and grabbed her arm, forcing her to straighten up and looked at him. "Hey. Talk to me."
Sevina tried to pull her arm free, but he would let her. Her eyes, until now had been fixed on his chest, but they flicked bravely to his face, knowing how much it would hurt her later when she remembered it. His eyes were warm, worried and so familiar. She scowled at him. She couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't learn to let him go, just to let him pull her back when he felt like it. "I have nothing to say to you, Jeff." Her voice sounded numb, hollow, just how she felt. She saw Jeff's eyebrows come together in a frown, but he still didn't let go of her arm. "Then let me do the talking." Sevina shook her head in an almost desperate way. His voice was so gentle and it was weaving a spell over her, making her want to give in to him, to give him what he wanted, but she couldn't. She couldn't do this anymore!
With a final, desperate pull she managed to free her arm from his grasp. She grabbed the sneakers she was looking for and returned to the bed to put them on. She focused her eyes on them and spoke in a hurried tone. She had to finish this, she had to get away from him before he could hurt her anymore. "I don't want to hear it right now. I need space."
Jeff watched her, confused. Her face had turned even whiter than usual and he could swear he had seen tears in her eyes. Her hands were shaking as they fumbled over the laces to her sneakers. Had he hurt her that bad? Was he too late? There had to be something. Some way he could make her wait and listen to him. "Please, Sevina. Just listen to me."
"No!" The answer was immediate and she looked scared now. She was looking at him with terror in her eyes. She couldn't stand this. She couldn't bear to be near him. Jeff felt staggered. She had never looked at him like that. Not with such a frightened gaze, as if he were about to destroy her. Was that what he had been doing? He frowned. He couldn't give up. She had to listen. She needed to understand. It would all be alright if she would just listen. Before he knew what was happening, she had passed him again, this time she was leaving. He moved quickly, grabbing her arm again as she passed the threshold of the room. "Please, wait!"
She pulled frantically against his hold, her eyes wide. "Jeff, let me go!" His grip became slack all of a sudden as she threw his own words at him, but twisted and changed enough to hurt him. She turned from him then and ran. She flew down the stairs, almost falling and across the lobby. She made it out to the street and sucked in a great lungful of air. She was shaking from head to foot as she ran through the parking lot until she found her rental car. She almost wrenched the door off in her desperation. She had to get away from here. She had to get away from him. She pulled out far too fast and took off down the road at high speed.
She didn't know that Jeff had been right behind her. He got into his own car and followed her. He had to make her listen, that was the only thought in his mind. Maybe if he could get her in the open, somewhere that there wasn't the work pressure and so many listening ears. He roared out of the lot after her, but was two cars behind. From there he witnessed the most terrifying moment of his life.
Sevina ran a hand down her face, trying to blink the tears from her eyes. She knew she was going too fast, but it was a two lane road and cars were pulling out so that she could pass. She swore repeatedly, trying to calm the tremors that were running through her like an electric current. She didn't see the SUV until it was too late. It was travelling only a fraction slower than herself and had not pulled out for her to pass. Her eyes widened as she realised that she was going to hit it. Her own car was much smaller and more breakable. She felt the impact and rather than everything seeming to slow down, it went twice as fast. She heard the loud bang, like an explosion. Screeching as the metal hit metal, like nails down a chalkboard. Felt her own car crumple and fly through the air. She rolled, once, twice. Glass shattered. It rained down over her. She was aware of the smell of gasoline and smoke. She could taste blood and she could see nothing. The car was on it's roof and then everything went black and she saw, felt and heard no more.